AFPSudanese migrants in Calais, northern France
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 16:12
Frank Renout
France correspondent
Frank Renout
France correspondent
Tomorrow, the French House of Representatives will begin discussing a controversial bill on migration. President Macron wants to take strict measures to limit the number of migrants and in particular the number of illegal immigrants.
“We must implement a humane policy and accommodate people fleeing violence. But we cannot accommodate all the misery of the world in France,” Macron said in a television interview two months ago.
This choice of words immediately led to fierce debates. Left-wing politician Thomas Portes accused Macron of using “the language of the far right and racists”. And this immediately set the tone for a heated debate about the plans.
‘Hard I’m flexible’
The government’s bill states that migrants and asylum seekers must meet more and stricter requirements to be allowed to stay in France: for example, mastering the French language will be a strict requirement. Illegal immigrants will be deported more quickly. But people with a foreign passport who are legally in France can also be deported if they “do not adhere to the values of France”.
On the other hand, the government wants to grant a residence permit to illegal immigrants who work in sectors with labor shortages, such as construction. There will also be a special residence permit for medical staff from abroad. The government speaks of “a law with two sides”: tough for those who do not comply with the rules and flexible for migrants with a job.
France has seven million inhabitants who were born abroad. That is more than 10 percent of the population. The largest groups are Algerians, Moroccans and Portuguese. “Since the early 2000s, the number of immigrants has been growing faster than the population as a whole,” according to statistics agency Insee.
The motives for coming to France differ. In 2021, most residence permits (32 percent) were given to foreign students. This was followed by permits for family reunification (31 percent) and for humanitarian reasons (14 percent).
The Interior Ministry says that between 600,000 and 900,000 illegal immigrants live in France. They are only gradually deported because it is not legally possible, or because they are ‘untraceable’. Of those who had to leave France in the first half of 2022, only 6.9 percent were actually deported.
The new migration law was approved last month by the French Senate, the Senate. There the ‘right’ has the majority. During the debate, the Senate added a whole series of amendments and changes to the law to further tighten and make Macron’s plans stricter.
For example, the government plan to legalize illegal immigrants in construction, among other things, was almost completely removed from the bill. The senators also decided to ban existing medical care for illegal immigrants. From now on, they would only be entitled to medical assistance in emergencies.
The latter led to protests from those involved. About 3,500 doctors and physicians signed a ‘declaration of civil disobedience’. “We have taken the Hippocratic Oath and will continue to provide free care to patients without a residence permit.”
Assembly divided
From tomorrow it will be the turn of the House of Representatives, the Assembly. It deals with the law as approved by the Senate. A compromise will be sought, which the Senate and the House of Representatives must ultimately agree on.
But in the Assembly, not one party and not one political color has a majority. The right-wing parties are in favor of strict migration rules, and the left-wing parties want to strip back the bill that has been tightened by the Senate. Macron’s own party is divided: a majority is in favor of a stricter immigration policy, but a group of left-wing dissidents thinks the law is too strict.
There is a lot at stake for Macron. He has personally insisted on a stricter immigration policy. After the pension reforms of a year ago, the bill should become one of the most important measures of his current second term.
With an eye to elections
Macron also wants to take the wind out of the sails of right-wing radical politicians with stricter migration rules. European elections will be held in six months’ time. Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National is leading in the polls.
Presidential elections will be held in France in 2027 and Le Pen will also score well, although it will still take more than three years.
With his migration law, Macron wants to show that right-wing voters do not necessarily have to vote for Le Pen if they want a strict immigration policy.
2023-12-10 15:12:55
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